A Final Day in Paradise

From Sunrise to Sunset

Jim went deep sea fishing with Doug and some of his buddies yesterday. They left the house EARLY at 1:30AM and enjoyed a day on the ocean and caught four fish that we'll enjoy tonight! While Jim was at sea, Margo, Stephanie, and I enjoyed a day getting some sun at A-Bay and the Hilton Waikoloa pool (which is more like an amusement park with it's wooden bridge, waterfalls, and water slide going into the pool!). We then met back together to watch the sunset over the Kohala Mountains!

Hilo, Friends, and Whoopie Pies!

We made a PA classic - Whoopie Pies last night!


And spent the day in Hilo with Mark and Carrie!

Swimming in Anna's Pond

Hiking on Parker Ranch

A Day in Waipi'o Valley

Hanging at 69's

Laughing!

From Beach to Blizzard

We spent Monday morning hiking on White Road through the Kohala Forest Preserve. It was overcast, rainy, and foggy but still a beautiful walk through the rain forest. The overlook spot at the end of the road was fogged in but we still had a great hike! Later that evening Doug, Jim, and I went to the top of Mauna Kea. We stopped at the visitor center, which is at 9,200 feet, and star gazed at the crystal clear sky (with a whopping 6,000 stars in the sky on the moonless night). Telescopes were set to Saturn, galaxys, and star groups. Scientists also gave presenations about constilations and used high powered lazer pointers to point to the stars. After acclimating to the elevation, we made the climb to the summit of Mauna Kea at 13,796 feet. The only things at the top of the mountain are two dozen telescopes (where the air is so clear that scientists can view objects over 12 billion light years away), lots of snow, and an eerie calmness. The night that we went to the summit a snow storm came blowing through and we decided to stay just long enough to pack the back of our pickup truck with snow and make it down the mountain before getting frostbite! :) We then had a blast making a snowman in Doug and Stephanie's front yard and throwing a few snowballs around!

A vacation within our vacation

This past weekend we enjoyed a mini-vacation! We stayed at a beautiful resort in Kailua-Kona (the city where Doug's dad and brother live) and enjoyed our time site seeing, relaxing, and shopping! Here are the highlights and pictures below to prove it! :)

Friday: Settled into the Wyndham resort, relaxed at the pool, and had a delicious steak dinner celebrating Don's (Doug's dad) birthday!
Saturday: Went snorkeling and cliff diving at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau (Place of Refuge), watched the sunset at Royal Kona Resort, ate dinner at Big Island Grill, and relaxed in the hot tub at our resort!
Sunday: Went to Alii Farmers Market, walked around downtown Kona, Jim and Doug went spear fishing at Kiholo and Stephanie and Ashley relaxed at the resort pool. We went to church at Doug and Steph's church, Calvery Chapel Hamakua, and ate dinner at their friends' house!

Our little guppy

Margo spent her time warming up to the pool water but when she got use to the water she enjoyed chillin' out! Here is the progression of our land lover turning into a guppy...

Cliff Diving!

Doug and Jim cliff dove off of a 40 foot ledge! It was Jim's first time diving and although he's jumped from 1400 feet in the Army he didn't have to land in unknown, shark infested, jagged rock covered waters!



What goes down must come up! Doug and Jim had to climb the treacherous rock face to get back up to the jump off point!



And still they did it again!



And one last time!

Margo Meets the Beach

Tsunamis, whales, and fun in the sun!

We spent another terrific day in Hawaii! We spent the morning at Hapuna Beach, a local spot 10 minutes from Doug and Steph's house. To make our outing a little more adventure filled, as we were leaving the beach there was a caution from lifeguards of a tsunami warning and strong current advisory (due to a 7.7 earthquake in Tonga)! We went to Hawi and the Polou Overlook but before arriving stopped along the highway to watch humback whales breaching! Unfortunatley we didn't get any pics of the whales but below are the pics we did take today...

A Howling Lady

Jim and Doug and Steph's dog Lady were in a howling match last night! She has such a fun personality!

30 Hours But Only One Day

We made it safe and sound to Kona and are settled in to Doug and Stephanie's in Waimea! It was a long trip (with the time change adding on six hours) but Margo did fantastic and we're already enjoying all the sights around this beautiful island! Take a look at what's happened so far...

Hawaii or Bust!

We leave in the morning for 10 days in paradise! I can't wait to tell you all about our time on Hawaii's Big Island and look forward to spending time with our ohana there too!

Ladylike Ladies

Singing with Nana

Something Old on Someone New

My mom rooted around in the attic and found a few of the dresses I wore as a baby. We dressed Margo up in one and although it took a while to get a good picture of Margo in it, she looks so adorable and it's one for the memory books! :)


The comforter she is on is from my nursery.

Grandma and Me

Margo loved hanging out with Grandma while I was in class last weekend and they spent a beautiful day together which included sitting on the porch getting some well needed vitamin D!

Scrub-a-dub-dub a baby in the tub

She wanted that butterfly toy so bad...


And finally got it!